| − | President Johnson finally signed the [[bi-partisan]] [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]], which he called "the N****r Bill."<ref>http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/lyndon-johnson-civil-rights-racism</ref> In lobbying fellow Democrats for the bill, Johnson said, {{quotebox|"I'll have them n*gg*rs voting Democratic for two hundred years."<ref>Said to two governors regarding the Civil Rights Act of 1964, according to then-''Air Force One'' steward Robert MacMillan as quoted in [http://books.google.com/books?id=lJz-yIZNE2sC ''Inside the White House''] (1996), by Ronald Kessler, New York: Simon and Schuster, p. 33.</ref>}} Democrats tried to block passage by filibustering for 75 hours, including a 14 hour and 13-minute speech by Sen. [[Robert Byrd]], who later became Senate Democrat Leader in the Reagan era.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/Civil_Rights_Filibuster_Ended.htm|title=Civil Rights Filibuster Ended |work=Art & History Historical Minutes|publisher=United States Senate|accessdate=}}</ref> The law was intended to block Republican gains in the South and buy off Blacks with [[affirmative action]] programs. | + | President Johnson finally signed the [[bi-partisan]] [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]], which he called "the N****r Bill."<ref>http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/lyndon-johnson-civil-rights-racism</ref> In lobbying fellow Democrats for the bill, Johnson said, {{quotebox|"I'll have them n*gg*rs voting Democratic for two hundred years."<ref>Said to two governors regarding the Civil Rights Act of 1964, according to then-''Air Force One'' steward Robert MacMillan as quoted in [http://books.google.com/books?id=lJz-yIZNE2sC ''Inside the White House''] (1996), by Ronald Kessler, New York: Simon and Schuster, p. 33.</ref>}} Democrats tried to block passage by filibustering for 75 hours, including a 14 hour and 13-minute speech by the Exalted Cyclops Sen. [[Robert Byrd]], who later became Senate Democrat Leader in the Reagan era.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/Civil_Rights_Filibuster_Ended.htm|title=Civil Rights Filibuster Ended |work=Art & History Historical Minutes|publisher=United States Senate|accessdate=}}</ref> The law was intended to block Republican gains in the South and buy off Blacks with [[affirmative action]] programs. |